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Now with over 98150 subscribers!

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New this week on WebReference.com and the Web:

Every Thursday the Update features a new article contributed by
our readers through our Open Publishing Initiative. We encourage
you to submit your own article ideas. Your words could be here,
being read by over 98,000 people!

More and more small businesses are getting online every day. But
for the "un-wired" business owner, setting up shop on the Web can
be an intimidating task. How do you know what's important, and
what's just window dressing? It can also be difficult to be a
Web developer trying to explain these issues to a client.

This week, Amy Flynn lays out seven strategies for building an
on-line presence for small businesses.

This installment of the Subscribe & Win contest is complete!
Thanks to everyone who entered, and took a shot at winning Sausage
Software's newest Web authoring tool, HotDog Professional 6.0.
Thanks also to Nathan and the crew at Sausage for giving us the
opportunity to share their product with our readers.

This week's winners include Markus Goernitz of Gemmerich, Germany
and Dian Coon of Vancouver, Washington. Enjoy the software!

>Last Chance to Buy it Cheap!

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2. FEATURED ARTICLE: Seven Strategies for Building and Managing an
Internet Business

By 2004 Forrester Research, Inc. estimates that business-to-
business commerce on the Web will hit $2.7 trillion. It seems that
everyday new companies are turning to the Web as a method of
gaining customers and making money. It's true that the Web can be
a highly profitable venture, but without careful planning, your
business may flounder before it ever makes money. Following these
seven steps can help you plan a cohesive strategy before you sell
your first product.

>Identify Your Internet Business

Ask yourself why customers would come to your Web site. Is it an
extension of your bricks and mortar store? Or will it be a stand-
alone operation? What can you provide that no one else can? Of
what value is your site to customers? Even if you don't sell
online, you need to answer these questions. Customers don't
always come to a Web site to buy products. Sometimes they come
for information. Tell them about the products you sell, give them
your store hours and phone number, provide a map so they can find
your shop. Even though you haven't sold them anything, you've
given them value. Customers will come back to your site if you
provide value.

>Create a well designed, easy-to-use, fast, and functional Web site

Your Web site should have a clean, straightforward design.
Customers don't like busy, cluttered sites. Make organization
simple and make the steps through your site obvious. Keep your
site easy to navigate. A customer should be able to find a
product in two mouse clicks. Any more and they feel like they're
being led through a maze. Or worse, they may lose interest and
leave.

Keep the graphics and text simple and small. Animation and sound
files can be interesting, but don't force customers to view these
items in order to buy a product.

There are many options for managing orders. The most popular way
to manage orders is through shopping cart technology. The customer
goes through the site and picks items s/he wants to buy. At check
out, s/he fills in billing details and purchases the items.
Building a shopping cart requires programming knowledge or a
software package that can manage the behind the scenes work.

How will you process sales? Sales can be processed online, offline
or a combination of both. Each step a customer must take to order
an item is a potential opt-out point. Does the customer need to
print out an order form and mail in a check? What if s/he doesn't
have a printer? What if there's not a stamp handy? Customers want
an acknowledgment of their order. If a customer orders via email,
will there be a confirmation auto-response email sent in return?

Can customers pay online with a credit card? They increasingly
like the convenience of this. The order is placed quickly and
they receive an instant confirmation receipt. However, your store
must be enabled to accept online credit card purchases. This
requires both a merchant account that accepts online orders and an
electronic gateway that facilitates the transaction. Ask if this
is included in your Web developer's quoted fees or look for a
software package that can handle the establishment of online
merchant accounts.

>Select the right domain name

A domain name is an extension of your store. It is the first
thing people learn about the store, so the name should be relevant
to the business. If you own a store or a brand name, this should
be the domain name as well. Make it easy to remember and easy to
type. Many single words have been registered as domains already.
New domain names can be up to 67 characters long, so choose a
combination of words that describes your store.

>Post your site to a trustworthy Web-hosting provider

Your site is effective only when people can see it. If your Web
site is inaccessible, you can't do business. Use a Web-hosting
provider that guarantees a high level of service. They should
have daily backups and redundant systems. A good provider gives
you access to your site statistics. This is more accurate than
the number of hits. Statistics can tell you where customers are
coming from, what they look at and what lead them there in the
first place. Because you are dealing with sensitive information,
your provider should use state of the art security to protect
your site from hackers.

******************************************************************

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distance learning, live web events, and community chat. Regardless
of what online service you provide, HearMe Live Voice is the best
way to increase customer satisfaction, close sales, and add
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Promote your site every chance you get. Search engines are a great
way to do this because they bring in a target market. Make it easy
for people to find you by choosing relevant keywords. Add keywords
and a description to the metatags and then register with the search
engines. If you are unfamiliar with metatags, some software
packages will help you add them and submit your site to search
engines.

Self-promotion can be another effective tool. Put your Web site
on your business cards, print it on receipts, put a sign in your
store window, tell people you've started a Web site. Another way
to generate traffic is to create relationships with other
businesses. A link exchange is useful. Make sure your links are
relevant and compliment your site.

Traditional advertising still works. Place ads in papers or trade
journals targeting your audience. Write a column for a local
newspaper. Offer a free Web seminar at a library. Go where your
customers go.

Provide a form or an email address so customers can include
comments. What do they want from your Web site? Are they
complaining about the pages or images? Can they order the products
they want? Can your server handle the Web traffic?

Web statistics can provide important information. You may be
getting a lot of visitors, but very few orders. Look at your site
from a customer perspective and review the tips about Web design.

Customer feedback is like a free business consultation, if you
know how to use it. Even angry letters can serve a purpose. When
customers take the time to give you feedback, the underlying
message is "We want to order from you, here's how you can let us."
Do they complain that the site is too slow? Check your graphics
and your Web server. Do they keep asking for related products?
Maybe it's time to expand the product base. Maybe they are afraid
to order because it's too complicated. Create a FAQ or offer
technical support.

Because you need to adjust your site to better serve your
customers, easy site maintenance is important. Ask a consultant
the cost for changes to your site. Or look into software packages
than can manage updates you make to your store.

******************************************************************

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Web sites and IT bottlenecks. Just visit http://eprise.com/ad18

***********************************************************adv.***

About the author:

Amy Flynn is a 'Net writer and Strategist with Go Daddy Software
(www.godaddy.com) of Scottsdale, AZ. Godaddy.com provides tools
for Webmasters to develop and manage online stores.
In her free time, Amy enjoys running desert trails. You can
contact Amy at aflynn@godaddy.com.

XML and RDF are the main attractions at the Ninth International
World Wide Web Conference (WWW9) being held this week. The
eXtensible Markup Language and Resource Description Framework are
setting the stage for a next-generation Web that promises to be
easier to navigate, more automated and readily accessible from a
wide array of devices including mobile phones and handheld
computers.
http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/05/17/www9.idg/index.html
CNN.com, 000517

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